He did not rule out the possibility of members of the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) being selected to sit in the Senate.

Prawit said his idea was not aimed at having selected senators help vote a prime minister because he did not think that they could vote on the premier. He said he only wanted to see the senators help work on a national strategy, especially on strategic reform work during the transition. He said he proposed the idea because he feared things would not go as strategically planned, including the reform to help move the country forward.

The deputy prime minister did not rule out the selection of NCPO members as senators, saying details needed to be worked out further. Prawit said there should be a senator selection committee to help pick these people and this should cover all professions.

“If we don’t think of anything, people may say we have wasted our time and resources,” Prawit said.

The deputy PM during the week tossed up the idea of selecting senators, diverging from the CDC proposal to have senators from an indirect election from 20 professional groups. He also proposed that the senators have a role during the transition phase, which could last for five years. Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha on Thursday threw his support behind the idea.

Prawit, however, said that he had not yet discussed his idea with Constitution Drafting Commission (CDC) chairman Meechai Ruchupan or Prayut, although the PM has backed the idea.

Another Deputy Prime Minister, Wissanu Krea-ngam, said he has heard of Prawit’s idea, but he would not make any comments on it now. In regard to another idea to have senators play a role in selecting the prime minister, he said it was a personal remark, and if any reformers wished to propose that, they should rather go through a formal deliberation by the National Reform Steering Assembly, and resolve it first.

Wissanu said he preferred to wait for the CDC’s response. The PM’s remark on the issue on Wednesday, he said, could have been a personal remark as well.

CDC spokesman Chartchai na Chiang Mai said Prayut‘s support for Prawit’s idea could be interpreted as a statement of the PM’s wish. However, the CDC has not discussed the issue yet, preferring to hear more from the people first.

“Who knows, the PM may change his mind at the last minute,” Chartchai said, adding that proposals by the CDC have been through a process of thorough thinking.

If some changes in the charter draft were really needed to facilitate “special conditions”, they could be acceptable, he noted.